Ott Ventures, the private equity arm and fund management platform run by Orco Property Group and MaMaison Hotels & Residences founder Ott Properties, has announced the launch of its first hotel fund, Velvet. The pan-European investment vehicle is targeting total assets under management of €500 million with a planned LTV of 50%. It will invest across Europe with a focus on the main Central European markets of Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary as well as Germany and Austria.

Grand Plaza Hotel, the company that owns the Sheraton Bucharest Hotel in the centre of the Romanian capital, plans to add around 100 rooms to the 270 existing ones by building a new section, economica.net reports. The cost of the project is estimated at €5 million.

While the first results show that the GDP grew by 5.2% q-o-q in Q3 in the Czech Republic, the second wave of COVID-19 has forced the government to re-impose strict containment measures to curb the spread of the virus. Retail sales grew during the summer as they reached pre-pandemic levels. However, consumer confidence fell for a second consecutive month in September, while a worsening labour market outlook and a resurgence of new infections will mean households keep more precautionary savings as well as denting income. On the other hand, industrial production resumed growth in September and is likely to underpin economic growth as it is less exposed to the pandemic. Cushman & Wakefield summarised the situation in each market segment.

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) has signed a management agreement with Granit Polus Group for a compelling property to be re-branded to Crowne Plaza Budapest in 2021. The hotel, located in downtown Pest in the same building complex as the Westend City Centre shopping centre, is currently operated by Hilton under the name Hilton Garden Inn Budapest City Centre.

Local developer Sekyra Group has acquired the Stýblův dům townhouse on Wenceslas Square in Prague for around €16.6 million (CZK 450 million). The company is planning to invest €31.3 million (CZK 850 million) in restoring the building.

Most hotels in Budapest will see their revenues decrease by more than 70% compared to 2019 this year, while hotels outside the capital expect 20% to 40% lower revenues, according to a representative survey commissioned by the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association.

Savvy hotel operators could harness the remote working trend and adapt their space to deliver a ‘hybrid hospitality’ concept to generate an additional source of income. Colliers International, predicts that where hotels provide office space to enable co-working and interacting, turnover could be increased by up to 20 percent.

New European hotel transaction data from Cushman & Wakefield reveals that the first half of 2020 saw a marked increase in investors retreating to their home regions amid COVID-19 related uncertainty, with 78% of the recorded €5.7 billion in transactions (a year-on-year fall of 55%) originating from within Europe.

Warimpex achieved a positive operating result (EBITDA) in the first half of 2020 despite losses in the hotel segment due to the coronavirus. This can be attributed primarily to the earnings contribution from the rental of office properties – this segment saw a 15% increase in revenues compared with the prior-year period. Following the posting of property impairments and currency losses, this led to a loss of €21.7 million for the first half of 2020, including a result of minus €3.0 million for the second quarter of 2020.

The hotel investment market in Poland is still relatively immature. In an average year, the city of Berlin alone receives twice the number of hotel transactions than Poland as a whole. However, Poland has developed a strong track record in other commercial real estate sectors and, as a result, has an even stronger brand for investing. This has laid down the foundations for global capital to enter the hotel sector, and, indeed, there has been an uptick in the number of international hotel investors actively pursuing opportunities in Poland.